North Korea and Russia have temporarily suspended rail connection that runs between the two countries.
In accordance with Announcement No. F-003/109 by North Korea’s Ministry of Railways on 1 February 2020 on the Temporary Suspension of Rail Passenger Traffic between the Russian Federation and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, passenger train and direct carriage services with North Korea through the border crossing at Hassan in Russia and Tumangan in North Korea have been canceled from 3 February 2020 until further notice:
- train No. 652/651 Ussuriysk – Tumangan operated by the Federal Passenger Company and departing from Ussuriysk from 3 February 2020 and from Tumangan from 4 February 2020;
- the direct Pyongyang – Moscow train operated by North Korean Railways and departing from Pyongyang from 3 February 2020 and from Moscow from 12 February 2020;
- the direct Pyongyang – Khabarovsk carriage operated by North Korean Railways and departing from Pyongyang from 19 February 2020 and from Khabarovsk from 21 February 2020;
- the direct carriages Moscow – Tumangan operated by the Federal Passenger Company and departing from Moscow from 5 February 2020 and from Tumangan from 12 February 2020.
As a result, all passenger rail services with North Korea have been temporarily suspended.
“In connection with the spread of the new coronavirus, passenger trains [that operate between the two countries] will cease running” on Monday, the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang said, according to the report.
Russian Railways is also shutting down train routes that run between Russia and China. In accordance with Order No. 25 issued by Russia’s Federal Rail Transport Agency on 30 January 2020, from 00:00 (local time) on 31 January to 1 March 2020, passenger rail services via checkpoints at certain parts of the state border between the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China have been temporarily suspended due to the coronavirus.